Paraguay “would love” to do more trade with China, but Taiwan offers the best bet for moving the largely agricultural economy up the value chain, the country’s president-elect Santiago Pena said yesterday on a visit to Taipei. Paraguay is the last South American country with formal relations with Taiwan.
Pena pledged during his election campaign to maintain more than six decades of relations with Taiwan despite pressure from Paraguay’s agricultural sector, which wants to open up lucrative Chinese markets to soybeans and beef.
Pena yesterday said he is “fully committed” to Taiwan and happy with his meetings this week.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
According to Pena, Paraguay has not been pressured by any neighboring nations into making a diplomatic switch, as he has made his position clear to them, especially to Brazil, which is his country’s largest trading partner and a strong ally of China.
“I can tell you that I haven’t felt any pressure, and probably they haven’t pressured [me], because they know my position,” he said at the press event, which was also attended by incoming First Lady of Paraguay Leticia Ocampos and Foreign Minister-designate Ruben Ramirez Lezcano.
Meanwhile, in response to a reporter’s question, Pena said his delegation had not had any specific talks with the Taiwan government about financial aid, and that the two sides would have lots of opportunities to discuss various agendas in the future.
Pena arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, at the head of a delegation that included incoming Presidential Chief Secretary Lea Gimenez Duarte, Finance Minister- designate Carlos Fernandez Valdovinos, and incoming Industry Minister Francisco Javier Gimenez Garcia de Zuniga.
Pena, who is to take office on Aug. 15, said he did not know whether President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) or Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate for next year’s presidential election, would come to the ceremony, but he would be delighted to receive them.
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